Heard industry leaders talking about intelligent video analytics? It is revolutionizing the way public organizations ingest and glean value from video content sources. Below, we break it all down for you—from origin to application.

How it developed

The first intelligent video analytics (IVA) programs were primitive compared to today’s versions. Algorithms were applied to video to detect motion and the location of that motion on live feeds. As Frank Yeh, Senior Solution Architect for IVA at IBM explains in his blog, “Turning video into insight” [link: http://www.ibmbigdatahub.com/blog/video-analytics-turning-video-insight], these early programs weren’t actionable. Operators didn’t want or need an alert any time any motion occurred. There was no way to distinguish between the motion that required notice and usual activity. “False alerts” became all too common.

In a second, more advanced wave of IVA software, this was corrected. Modern programs provide great detail on detected motion including color, shape, size, type and more. Frank explains, “Instead of ‘something’s moving’ you now get ‘a red car is moving eastbound on 33rd Street’ or ‘a bald man with eyeglasses wearing a red shirt is walking down the hallway.’”

As more video cameras are purchased, placed and used for public safety, the development and application of IVA has increased tenfold, enhancing a diverse number of applications.

Why it works

How does IVA provide value beyond traditional surveillance systems? Curt Brobst, an IVA Evangelist at IBM, explains [link: http://www.ibmbigdatahub.com/blog/realize-your-surveillance-systems-full-potential-video-analytics] that video monitoring systems relying on just human operators to identify action of interest are inherently flawed. While recordings of video can provide insight into an incident afterwards, they do not successfully enable early detection and response while the incident is still occurring.

This is because we humans have limited attention spans. The typical human attention span while watching video is a cool 22 minutes. Even the most dedicated operator is still subject to “perceptual blindness” [link: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/but-did-you-see-the-gorilla-the-problem-with-inattentional-blindness-17339778/?no-ist], or the brain’s tendency to screen out actions in order to help us focus. Even if an operator maintains focus, perceptual blindness could prevent them from noticing unexpected activity.

As Curt explains, “Video analytics is never sleepy, inattentive or distracted. It isn’t overwhelmed by trying to keep track of dozens of video feeds. It isn’t affected by perceptual blindness. Rather, it monitors all video feeds 24/7, notifying human operators when something of interest happens.”

How it works

There are four key steps to developing and achieving value from an IVA surveillance system—capture, ingest and analyze, decide, and act. All four are outlined in detail in this blog post [link: http://www.ibmbigdatahub.com/blog/4-key-steps-take-video-data-insight-action]. Implementing a system according to these steps affords a number of benefits. Resources are more effectively managed; as video sources increase exponentially, the cost of personnel to monitor all incoming content would be prohibitive. An IVA system would manage and tag the incoming data, and make it available and easily used by multiple departments—breaking down informational silos. This allows departments to analyze and understand events before, during and after they occur.

A few applications…

New applications and case studies are appearing regularly as the value in this new information is really brought to light. A few examples include managing traffic flow for a city—on a regular basis and during planned or unplanned events like parades or emergencies. In public safety [link: https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=registration.jsp&eventid=999840&sessionid=1&key=07E7FA06A218199A9EBE12A9764C7385&sourcepage=register], IVA is helping respond to crime, understand crime patterns and even to predict where and when resources need to be deployed to have an impact. As Frank notes, with IVA, “retailers can better understand customer behavior, and banks and airports can understand queue waiting times. The possibilities are virtually endless.”

Interested in learning more about how analytics are creating a safer planet? Check out posts by experts on the IBM Big Data Hub [link: http://www.ibmbigdatahub.com/industry/government].